Ever since the dawn of history, man has constructed sailboats by running ropes from the upper end of the mast to the periphery of the boat. These ropes are known as "shrouds" or "stays". Although the original stays were formed of fiber rope, many years ago these were replaced by steel wire rope. More recently, a solid rod of a high tensile-strength metal, such as titanium, has been used. Whether the stay be made of solid rod or wire rope, there is a considerable problem in attaching it to the upper end of the mast. This has been done in the past by using a so-called "tang" which is nothing but a metal tab screwed to the mast. Various problems result from the use of this attachment, particularly when it is considered that the tension in the stay may be as high as 3,000 lbs. Furthermore, if a wooden mast is used, the penetration of screws and bolts into the wood permits the introduction of water and the subsequent deterioration of the wood, leading some times to the tang pulling loose when the stay is heavily stressed, as in a storm. If the mast is of the hollow tubular type formed of a light-weight metal, such as aluminum or magnesium, it is difficult to provide fasteners which attach to the metal and which will not deform the metal and pull loose under stress. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a boat stay fastening in which stress applied to the stay is evenly distributed throughout the entire section of the mast to which the stay is attached.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a boat stay fastening which is capable of use with either a wooden mast or a hollow tubular metal mast and which is capable of use with either a wire rope stay or a solid rod stay.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a boat stay fastening in which the major elements can be applied to a mast without the stay being present and wherein the stay can be applied readily and quickly at a later date.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a boat stay fastening in which the stay is not subjected to reverse bending during movement of the mast.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a boat stay fastening containing a degree of universal movement to relieve high-frequency bending stress in the stay.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.